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Synthesis
Chapter 2 of Fair Isn't Always Equal, Mastery, is all about how true knowledge results in mastery of the information. Mastery is the ability to use the information in a realistic application. Wormeli assures us that mastery cannot be assumed from one correctly done assessment, but instead from multiple assessments. In order to determine true mastery with our students we must give them multiple assessments. These assessments should test for the six facets of understanding: explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy, and self-knowledge. Once students have demonstrated each of these facets, a teacher can be reassured that they have fully mastered the information at hand. There are many different kinds of assessments other than tests and quizzes that can be used to test for mastery, including videos, CDs, Web sites, mind maps, discussions, essays, models, etc. As long as the assessment requires the student to use critical thinking with the subject matter, it can demonstrate mastery. It is important that the school has a consensus on what mastery is, that way students know what is expected of them and how to demonstrate their learning within all classrooms without confusion.
Abstract
As teachers, we will need to know how to identify mastery in each of our units. Wormeli encourages us to think of this through finishing sentences such as "mastery is..." and "understanding is like..." and making sure we stick to our guns when seeing if students have truly mastered the material. Other than doing multiple assessments, we keep good track of our students growth over time than we can in order to look for mastery, such as keeping learning contracts with the students or simply a journal where we document progress.
Grades are not always a good indicator of mastery in a classroom. As Alison said, "It was a bit surprising how difficult this can be, and how often a teacher needs to check student progress to assure that they are well on the path of fully understanding whatever standard it is you have them working toward." A lot of students enjoyed the Benjamin Franklin quote, "Tim was so learned that he could name a horse in nine languages; so ignorant, that he bought a cow to ride on,"; it is true that a lot of people are intelligent but not in a mastered way, and so they are not able to use the information to the best of their ability or in the right way. We as teachers need to make sure our lessons and our assessments are solid and thick enough to test for true mastery, and not a simpe knowledge of information, like what Tim has.
Frank Makuch
This chapter is all about what defines mastery. Mastery is when a student understands a subject completely and is able to recall that knowledge and use it in varying circumstances.
Students who are at the mastery level do not recite what they already know, but rather are able to use that knowledge to figure other things out. Grades are not always a good indicator of mastery in a classroom. Students may be able to memorize something for a test but really have no idea how to apply that knowledge. The non-master student may be able to pass a test and get good grades, but he will not actually learn anything worth remembering. Determining what is important subject matter for students to master is also a topic discussed. The book states how teachers should consult a variety of resources, including curriculum guides and colleagues, in order to figure out what is important to master. The book stresses that complacency can be dangerous when it comes to teaching. Teachers should not assume that things do not change over the course of a few years. The good teacher needs to be constantly adapting to the situation and what is expected. Some districts even provide templates for teachers to follow when conducting classes. As a future teacher, I will try to make my students actually learn instead of just going through the motions so that my students get good grades instead of actually learning. The purpose of school is for learning to take place. Mastery is learning that stays with a student for a very long time. Mastery should be the goal when teaching.
Garrett Hodgkins
“Tim was so learned that he could name a horse in nine languages; so ignorant, that he bought a cow to ride on.”
The next chapter goes on to discuss what might the master of a topic exactly is, and how to tell when a student has mastered an area. The chapter tells that every teacher in any given school is likely to give you a different explanation of what they view mastery as, but there is a few general ideas that relate to mastery, for instance, the terms we have learned from UbD. It discusses way that we might go to assess mastery, and cater once again to all areas of intelligence (seems to be a pretty common theme) and make sure that the big ideas get through to all students. It talks about the stage 1-3 method that we have begun to start learning in class. Now that I have a general idea of what exactly mastery is, and how to tell if a student has truly mastered a certain topic, it is something that I will work hard to apply in the future. I will work to make sure that all of my students can grasp the big ideas of each topic, as well as answer all of the essential questions so they can get a good grip on all areas of understanding. I will try to assess all of the students understandings of each topic in a fair and equal way, where the assessments may cater to all areas of development so I can truly see if a student has mastered the topic or not.
Kiera Timme
In Chapter 2, ofFair Isn’t Always Equal, the author Rick Wormeli discusses the topic of mastery and how teacher can identify the difference between true knowledge and understanding, versus recitation of facts, processes, and formulas. For Wormeli, this all comes back to the teacher. It is important that teachers have a clear idea of what it means for our students to have mastered a unit, or our content, before we can even begin assessment.
As a learner, particularly in my mathematics classes, I am becoming more and more aware of the difference between being able to repeat a process using path work, versus actual understanding of the material. Moreover, I have noticed that when I don’t yet understand the math behind the process, I am easily frustrated, and unable to adapt to a problem presented in an unfamiliar format. Recognizing this, I seek out ways to develop my understanding in order to master it. As someone who loves mathematics, motivating myself to move past the superficial to real learning isn’t too difficult. However, this is unlikely to be the case with most of the students I encounter. If my students are going to be successful then, not only am I going to have to be clear about what it means to master the material, but also my approach to teaching must uncover what is going on below the surface. Failure to do so, and I am likely to encounter a class full of frustrated students who are unable to adapt.
Sean Falasca
Demonstrating through understanding like breaking down a math problem into component pieces, critique it against criteria, and being able to recreate math is demonstrating mastery of a subject and in this case math. It is so important to fully understand the how’s and why’s of the ways things work is so much more important than memori
zing the formula and not understanding why that formula actually works. We as teachers need to strive to help students accomplish this. Accepting one sentence answers like “Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves.” Does not constitute mastery. Elaborating why he freed the slaves and highlighting specific connections that can be made to why he freed the slaves would be a good demonstration of mastery. Deciding what specific material to mastery as a first year teacher will be hard, but I will have plenty of resources at my disposal to assist me like my colleagues, profession organizations, curriculum guides, etc.
I want all my students to become masters of everything we cover. When I was in school I just focused on memorizing dates, event, and formulas. Never thought twice about the meaning behind it except that it would be on a test. I want to make students want to know why things work they way they do and not just memorize it because I asked them to. The more mastery the gain then the more they will be prepared for college level work. Once I find out through implementation what works and doesn’t work, I won’t hesitate to share it with my colleagues because I know I will be relying upon them a lot as well.
Tori Penney
Chapter 2 of FIAE discusses mastery and what true understanding is, means, and how it looks. I thoroughly enjoyed the quote on page 11 by Ben Franklin, “Tim was so learned, that he could name a horse in nine languages; so ignorant, that he bought a cow to ride on.” Mastery is the ability to use the knowledge in a realistic application. A student must be able to spot a situation or an opportunity where the knowledge can be applied and then have the ability to apply it. This is where the six facets come into play, if a student can use all six facets, they have mastered the subject. On page 13 a diagram (figure 2.1) lays out what mastery is and what mastery is not, that way a teacher can understand if their student truly has a grasp on the information or not. This would be a good go-to chart for when a teacher isn’t totally sure about a student’s progress. Within my subject, mastery would be identified through mostly the identification of cause and effect situations, what caused a historic even to happen, and what its effects were. These would usually be seen in presentations and essays within classes; I hope to be able to identify mastery though different ways that way student’s do not feel as if they are stuck because of the format of delivery instead of mastery of the info. This chapter also encourages schools to identify what they consider mastery to be as well as how it will be evaluated, since if there is not an equal idea on what mastery is throughout the school, there will be no consistency throughout the students general education.
Tess Perry
A teacher’s goal at the end of the school year is for all students to be a master in that teacher’s subject area.
This chapter explored the definition of mastery and how to give students the opportunity to show and prove mastery. The definition of mastery takes the 6 facets of understanding into consideration.
If a student is able to explain, interpret, apply new information, use perspective and empathy and show self-knowledge of a new concept, idea or skill then one can assume a student has mastered it. Determining if a student has mastered a new skill is not a yes or no question, it takes multiple assessments and opportunities for students to demonstrate that they have learned and understand. This chapter described this concept as showing acceptable evidence of mastery, which can be done through multiple assignments and by tracking student’s progress. This chapter emphasized the amount of thought, time and effort teachers must put into planning and this chapter only focused on mastery. This is an excellent example of the overlooked importance of teachers. It is not easy to be a successful teacher. I had not given much thought to the assessment piece of teaching; I have been more focused on methodology. But assessment is just as important; it is with the assessment that a teacher will be able to see if the lessons and teaching methodology is effective. A teacher should not be nervous for the results of student’s final assessments if the teacher is regularly assessing and tracking progress. This method helps students just as much as it shows teachers their own successes or weaknesses.
Jon Delorme
Chapter 2 – Mastery
The essential question of this chapter is something along the lines of, “How do we know if a student has mastered a concept?” Wormeli starts the chapter by trying to define mastery, which he proves is a slippery term to pin down. Everyone’s opinion of mastery is different. One definition I did not realize the relevance of the first time I read the book was Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins’ idea of the Six Facets of Learning. The same facets that we just used to create our Stage I lesson plans. It is interesting how much I am picking up the second time around. One idea that Wormeli discusses is having students write out how they got their final answer because it shows true mastery (15). This is one idea that I will start using immediately for my Statistic students. Concerning my more distant future, this idea works very well in a history class because much of the content is already expressed through spoken and written words.
One process I am nervous about is deciding what exactly my students should master and what I should leave out. When we are talking about history everything is connected. Leaving out parts of history is something that drastically alters the story being told. I feel like I will have trouble with teaching too much because I do not want to leave out important information. I agree that backwards planning and relying on colleagues will help me in this process. But, I still worry. I am sure with experience I will find the right balance between content and time.
Kaitlyn Bowie
The focus of this chapter is determining whether a student has mastered a topic, partially mastered, or simply memorized part of it. In order to determine this, a teacher needs to have consistent evidence in a student’s work of successfully demonstrating this skill, and who is then able to take that skills and investigate it a level deeper. From there a student should be able to self-asses their progress see their own development of that topic. A single grade is only a snapshot of an instant of that skill, and in some cases it is by pure luck that they receive that grade. By breaking down a standard, you are able to figure out what exactly defines mastery of that skill. By doing this the level of mastery can be presented in an easy to understand way for students and faculty alike. Before a teacher can begin moving students ahead and assisting with differentiated instruction, there needs to be an understanding of what they need to obtain as a learner. In school I have never felt comfortable in saying that I had mastered something, even when I was very proficient, I could never bring myself to say mastered. Many of my teachers stood by the idea that you never truly mastered a skill, because you never really stopped learning. In many ways I feel I would agree, because learning is not a race to the finish. At the same time, I feel it would be unfair to proficient students to deny them the title of mastery. In my own classroom, I feel I would have to make it clear that mastery does not mean that there is no work. It merely means that they have moved beyond the traditional learning path and need a greater challenge to be stimulated.
Caroline Murphy
Learning about the different levels of understanding that students need to achieve in the classroom is very useful to a teacher. It is easy to think that showing they can perform a certain skill is all the knowledge necessary for them to really understand a topic, but it does go a lot deeper. I didn’t realize until reading this chapter just how complicated it is to determine whether or not a student has mastered the content, but understanding that it takes more than just one or two exercises to have proof of it is something I will definitely take into the classroom with me. This chapter taught me a lot about the many different ways that it is necessary for students to be able to apply what they have learned. Most modern teachers know that rote memorization and useless busy work doesn’t promote the kind of active learning that we should be striving for, but it was helpful to learn that even hands-on, active assignments and activities aren’t always enough to judge how well a student has mastered the content. This chapter enforces the idea that assessment must be an ongoing process that measures all stages of learning and all aspects of it. Knowledge and content mastery are not one-dimensional things, and this chapter taught me a lot about appreciating the different ways of applying that mastery. When I am teaching a class, I will try to remember that what matters most is not my students simply regurgitating the information I teach them, but their ability to express that knowledge when I am not around to lead them through it.
Amy Jones
Chapter 2 in Fair isn’t Always Equal explains how “Mastery is more than knowing information, of course, but it can even go beyond manipulating and applying that information successfully in other situations”(pg 11). It is said to be true that students will not fully understand a content area unless “they can explain it, interpret it for others or other situations, apply it, acknowledge and explore alternative perspectives on the topic, experience empathy for the topic (or appreciate the experience of others who do), and accurately identify and reflect on their own self-knowledge regarding the topic”( pg12) They are many different ways to evaluate your students mastery of skills, a couple examples are:
Provide multiple assignments. This can help provide a good comparison in the different intelligences of your students.
Track your students learning. If your student is constantly raising the bar of knowledge that they have for a certain subject your evaluation should be very easy.
Determining what’s important for your students to master is ultimately up to you. “Curriculum is subject to a teacher’s interpretation”. (pg 18) I feel as though this is very important for a teacher to understand. There are always going to be things that you have to get through in your classes although they way you get to them could be a direct reflection of your students MI’s. As a teacher if your class is more visual in their learning styles having them read a book may not be as powerful as if you showed them a movie. The two could have the same information but because your students are visual learners the movie will more than likely be a better alternative than a book would be.
Molly Olsen
There is a difference between truly understanding a subject and being able to rattle off facts on it. When one can explain, interpret, apply, have perspective, emphasize, and display self-knowledge concerning a subject area's event or idea, then they have truly "mastered" the understanding of the subject. For example, an example of mastery as compared to non-mastery is listed on page 13: Mastery: "The student uses a variety of basketball passes during a game, depending on the most advantageous strategy at each moment in the game. Non Mastery: The student uses primarily the bounce pass in the basketball game regardless of its potential effectiveness because that's all he knows how to do." What if the kid who only did the bounce pass won the game, but so did the student who used the most "advantageous strategy"? Does that mean that the bounce-driven student was just as good as the one who used multiple passes? No, it just means that some dumb-luck may have been involved.
What's the best way to determine whether a student has mastered a skill? Well although the book didn't call it by this name, they suggested a set-up similar to backward design, which is something I plan on using in my future classrooms. Why do I want to use it? Backward design allows you to pick a goal first, and puts secondly how to tell if a student has mastered the goal and curriculum. By working backwards with the ultimate goal closer in mind, I think it will be easier to decide how to define "mastered" for that particular lesson.
Alison Hutchins
The second chapter of Fair Isn't Always Equal focuses largely on determining student mastery of specific content. This wasn't something I had yet given a ton of thought, especially in reference to differentiated instruction. It was a bit surprising how difficult this can be, and how often a teacher needs to check student progress to assure that they are well on the path of fully understanding whatever standard it is you have them working toward. The process involves checking for these skills frequently in ways that require them to answer, or self access, using not empty knowledge, but full and deep understanding of the content with which you have provided them. The chapter suggests that it is important to break up the standard in a way that makes each part easy to access a student on, this kind of breaking apart also eases differentiated teaching and assessment, as it helps more clearly state what goals the learner needs to ultimately meet.
Mastery is definitely hugely important to any classroom, as the ultimate goal of any lesson is to guide students to gain that given skill. In reference to differentiated learning, this could mean creating very different lesson plans and accessing mastery in a altered way, while still being sure that the student is being held to the same caliber. This would always be important in my classroom, because I believe that every student has the right and ability to master the same content as any other, regardless of how they learn.
Table of Contents
Synthesis
Chapter 2 of Fair Isn't Always Equal, Mastery, is all about how true knowledge results in mastery of the information. Mastery is the ability to use the information in a realistic application. Wormeli assures us that mastery cannot be assumed from one correctly done assessment, but instead from multiple assessments. In order to determine true mastery with our students we must give them multiple assessments. These assessments should test for the six facets of understanding: explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy, and self-knowledge. Once students have demonstrated each of these facets, a teacher can be reassured that they have fully mastered the information at hand. There are many different kinds of assessments other than tests and quizzes that can be used to test for mastery, including videos, CDs, Web sites, mind maps, discussions, essays, models, etc. As long as the assessment requires the student to use critical thinking with the subject matter, it can demonstrate mastery. It is important that the school has a consensus on what mastery is, that way students know what is expected of them and how to demonstrate their learning within all classrooms without confusion.
Abstract
As teachers, we will need to know how to identify mastery in each of our units. Wormeli encourages us to think of this through finishing sentences such as "mastery is..." and "understanding is like..." and making sure we stick to our guns when seeing if students have truly mastered the material. Other than doing multiple assessments, we keep good track of our students growth over time than we can in order to look for mastery, such as keeping learning contracts with the students or simply a journal where we document progress.
Grades are not always a good indicator of mastery in a classroom. As Alison said, "It was a bit surprising how difficult this can be, and how often a teacher needs to check student progress to assure that they are well on the path of fully understanding whatever standard it is you have them working toward." A lot of students enjoyed the Benjamin Franklin quote, "Tim was so learned that he could name a horse in nine languages; so ignorant, that he bought a cow to ride on,"; it is true that a lot of people are intelligent but not in a mastered way, and so they are not able to use the information to the best of their ability or in the right way. We as teachers need to make sure our lessons and our assessments are solid and thick enough to test for true mastery, and not a simpe knowledge of information, like what Tim has.
Frank Makuch
This chapter is all about what defines mastery. Mastery is when a student understands a subject completely and is able to recall that knowledge and use it in varying circumstances.Students who are at the mastery level do not recite what they already know, but rather are able to use that knowledge to figure other things out. Grades are not always a good indicator of mastery in a classroom. Students may be able to memorize something for a test but really have no idea how to apply that knowledge. The non-master student may be able to pass a test and get good grades, but he will not actually learn anything worth remembering. Determining what is important subject matter for students to master is also a topic discussed. The book states how teachers should consult a variety of resources, including curriculum guides and colleagues, in order to figure out what is important to master. The book stresses that complacency can be dangerous when it comes to teaching. Teachers should not assume that things do not change over the course of a few years. The good teacher needs to be constantly adapting to the situation and what is expected. Some districts even provide templates for teachers to follow when conducting classes. As a future teacher, I will try to make my students actually learn instead of just going through the motions so that my students get good grades instead of actually learning. The purpose of school is for learning to take place. Mastery is learning that stays with a student for a very long time. Mastery should be the goal when teaching.
Garrett Hodgkins
“Tim was so learned that he could name a horse in nine languages; so ignorant, that he bought a cow to ride on.”The next chapter goes on to discuss what might the master of a topic exactly is, and how to tell when a student has mastered an area. The chapter tells that every teacher in any given school is likely to give you a different explanation of what they view mastery as, but there is a few general ideas that relate to mastery, for instance, the terms we have learned from UbD. It discusses way that we might go to assess mastery, and cater once again to all areas of intelligence (seems to be a pretty common theme) and make sure that the big ideas get through to all students. It talks about the stage 1-3 method that we have begun to start learning in class.
Now that I have a general idea of what exactly mastery is, and how to tell if a student has truly mastered a certain topic, it is something that I will work hard to apply in the future. I will work to make sure that all of my students can grasp the big ideas of each topic, as well as answer all of the essential questions so they can get a good grip on all areas of understanding. I will try to assess all of the students understandings of each topic in a fair and equal way, where the assessments may cater to all areas of development so I can truly see if a student has mastered the topic or not.
Kiera Timme
In Chapter 2, ofFair Isn’t Always Equal, the author Rick Wormeli discusses the topic of mastery and how teacher can identify the difference between true knowledge and understanding, versus recitation of facts, processes, and formulas. For Wormeli, this all comes back to the teacher. It is important that teachers have a clear idea of what it means for our students to have mastered a unit, or our content, before we can even begin assessment.As a learner, particularly in my mathematics classes, I am becoming more and more aware of the difference between being able to repeat a process using path work, versus actual understanding of the material. Moreover, I have noticed that when I don’t yet understand the math behind the process, I am easily frustrated, and unable to adapt to a problem presented in an unfamiliar format. Recognizing this, I seek out ways to develop my understanding in order to master it. As someone who loves mathematics, motivating myself to move past the superficial to real learning isn’t too difficult. However, this is unlikely to be the case with most of the students I encounter. If my students are going to be successful then, not only am I going to have to be clear about what it means to master the material, but also my approach to teaching must uncover what is going on below the surface. Failure to do so, and I am likely to encounter a class full of frustrated students who are unable to adapt.
Sean Falasca
Demonstrating through understanding like breaking down a math problem into component pieces, critique it against criteria, and being able to recreate math is demonstrating mastery of a subject and in this case math. It is so important to fully understand the how’s and why’s of the ways things work is so much more important than memorizing the formula and not understanding why that formula actually works. We as teachers need to strive to help students accomplish this. Accepting one sentence answers like “Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves.” Does not constitute mastery. Elaborating why he freed the slaves and highlighting specific connections that can be made to why he freed the slaves would be a good demonstration of mastery. Deciding what specific material to mastery as a first year teacher will be hard, but I will have plenty of resources at my disposal to assist me like my colleagues, profession organizations, curriculum guides, etc.
I want all my students to become masters of everything we cover. When I was in school I just focused on memorizing dates, event, and formulas. Never thought twice about the meaning behind it except that it would be on a test. I want to make students want to know why things work they way they do and not just memorize it because I asked them to. The more mastery the gain then the more they will be prepared for college level work. Once I find out through implementation what works and doesn’t work, I won’t hesitate to share it with my colleagues because I know I will be relying upon them a lot as well.
Tori Penney
Chapter 2 of FIAE discusses mastery and what true understanding is, means, and how it looks. I thoroughly enjoyed the quote on page 11 by Ben Franklin, “Tim was so learned, that he could name a horse in nine languages; so ignorant, that he bought a cow to ride on.” Mastery is the ability to use the knowledge in a realistic application. A student must be able to spot a situation or an opportunity where the knowledge can be applied and then have the ability to apply it. This is where the six facets come into play, if a student can use all six facets, they have mastered the subject. On page 13 a diagram (figure 2.1) lays out what mastery is and what mastery is not, that way a teacher can understand if their student truly has a grasp on the information or not. This would be a good go-to chart for when a teacher isn’t totally sure about a student’s progress. Within my subject, mastery would be identified through mostly the identification of cause and effect situations, what caused a historic even to happen, and what its effects were. These would usually be seen in presentations and essays within classes; I hope to be able to identify mastery though different ways that way student’s do not feel as if they are stuck because of the format of delivery instead of mastery of the info. This chapter also encourages schools to identify what they consider mastery to be as well as how it will be evaluated, since if there is not an equal idea on what mastery is throughout the school, there will be no consistency throughout the students general education.Tess Perry
A teacher’s goal at the end of the school year is for all students to be a master in that teacher’s subject area.
This chapter explored the definition of mastery and how to give students the opportunity to show and prove mastery. The definition of mastery takes the 6 facets of understanding into consideration.
If a student is able to explain, interpret, apply new information, use perspective and empathy and show self-knowledge of a new concept, idea or skill then one can assume a student has mastered it. Determining if a student has mastered a new skill is not a yes or no question, it takes multiple assessments and opportunities for students to demonstrate that they have learned and understand. This chapter described this concept as showing acceptable evidence of mastery, which can be done through multiple assignments and by tracking student’s progress.
This chapter emphasized the amount of thought, time and effort teachers must put into planning and this chapter only focused on mastery. This is an excellent example of the overlooked importance of teachers. It is not easy to be a successful teacher. I had not given much thought to the assessment piece of teaching; I have been more focused on methodology. But assessment is just as important; it is with the assessment that a teacher will be able to see if the lessons and teaching methodology is effective. A teacher should not be nervous for the results of student’s final assessments if the teacher is regularly assessing and tracking progress. This method helps students just as much as it shows teachers their own successes or weaknesses.
Jon Delorme
Chapter 2 – Mastery
The essential question of this chapter is something along the lines of, “How do we know if a student has mastered a concept?” Wormeli starts the chapter by trying to define mastery, which he proves is a slippery term to pin down. Everyone’s opinion of mastery is different. One definition I did not realize the relevance of the first time I read the book was Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins’ idea of the Six Facets of Learning. The same facets that we just used to create our Stage I lesson plans. It is interesting how much I am picking up the second time around. One idea that Wormeli discusses is having students write out how they got their final answer because it shows true mastery (15). This is one idea that I will start using immediately for my Statistic students. Concerning my more distant future, this idea works very well in a history class because much of the content is already expressed through spoken and written words.
One process I am nervous about is deciding what exactly my students should master and what I should leave out. When we are talking about history everything is connected. Leaving out parts of history is something that drastically alters the story being told. I feel like I will have trouble with teaching too much because I do not want to leave out important information. I agree that backwards planning and relying on colleagues will help me in this process. But, I still worry. I am sure with experience I will find the right balance between content and time.
Kaitlyn Bowie
The focus of this chapter is determining whether a student has mastered a topic, partially mastered, or simply memorized part of it. In order to determine this, a teacher needs to have consistent evidence in a student’s work of successfully demonstrating this skill, and who is then able to take that skills and investigate it a level deeper. From there a student should be able to self-asses their progress see their own development of that topic. A single grade is only a snapshot of an instant of that skill, and in some cases it is by pure luck that they receive that grade. By breaking down a standard, you are able to figure out what exactly defines mastery of that skill. By doing this the level of mastery can be presented in an easy to understand way for students and faculty alike. Before a teacher can begin moving students ahead and assisting with differentiated instruction, there needs to be an understanding of what they need to obtain as a learner.In school I have never felt comfortable in saying that I had mastered something, even when I was very proficient, I could never bring myself to say mastered. Many of my teachers stood by the idea that you never truly mastered a skill, because you never really stopped learning. In many ways I feel I would agree, because learning is not a race to the finish. At the same time, I feel it would be unfair to proficient students to deny them the title of mastery. In my own classroom, I feel I would have to make it clear that mastery does not mean that there is no work. It merely means that they have moved beyond the traditional learning path and need a greater challenge to be stimulated.
Caroline Murphy
Learning about the different levels of understanding that students need to achieve in the classroom is very useful to a teacher. It is easy to think that showing they can perform a certain skill is all the knowledge necessary for them to really understand a topic, but it does go a lot deeper. I didn’t realize until reading this chapter just how complicated it is to determine whether or not a student has mastered the content, but understanding that it takes more than just one or two exercises to have proof of it is something I will definitely take into the classroom with me. This chapter taught me a lot about the many different ways that it is necessary for students to be able to apply what they have learned. Most modern teachers know that rote memorization and useless busy work doesn’t promote the kind of active learning that we should be striving for, but it was helpful to learn that even hands-on, active assignments and activities aren’t always enough to judge how well a student has mastered the content. This chapter enforces the idea that assessment must be an ongoing process that measures all stages of learning and all aspects of it. Knowledge and content mastery are not one-dimensional things, and this chapter taught me a lot about appreciating the different ways of applying that mastery. When I am teaching a class, I will try to remember that what matters most is not my students simply regurgitating the information I teach them, but their ability to express that knowledge when I am not around to lead them through it.
Amy Jones
Chapter 2 in Fair isn’t Always Equal explains how “Mastery is more than knowing information, of course, but it can even go beyond manipulating and applying that information successfully in other situations”(pg 11). It is said to be true that students will not fully understand a content area unless “they can explain it, interpret it for others or other situations, apply it, acknowledge and explore alternative perspectives on the topic, experience empathy for the topic (or appreciate the experience of others who do), and accurately identify and reflect on their own self-knowledge regarding the topic”( pg12) They are many different ways to evaluate your students mastery of skills, a couple examples are:- Provide multiple assignments. This can help provide a good comparison in the different intelligences of your students.
- Track your students learning. If your student is constantly raising the bar of knowledge that they have for a certain subject your evaluation should be very easy.
Determining what’s important for your students to master is ultimately up to you. “Curriculum is subject to a teacher’s interpretation”. (pg 18) I feel as though this is very important for a teacher to understand. There are always going to be things that you have to get through in your classes although they way you get to them could be a direct reflection of your students MI’s. As a teacher if your class is more visual in their learning styles having them read a book may not be as powerful as if you showed them a movie. The two could have the same information but because your students are visual learners the movie will more than likely be a better alternative than a book would be.Molly Olsen
There is a difference between truly understanding a subject and being able to rattle off facts on it. When one can explain, interpret, apply, have perspective, emphasize, and display self-knowledge concerning a subject area's event or idea, then they have truly "mastered" the understanding of the subject. For example, an example of mastery as compared to non-mastery is listed on page 13: Mastery: "The student uses a variety of basketball passes during a game, depending on the most advantageous strategy at each moment in the game. Non Mastery: The student uses primarily the bounce pass in the basketball game regardless of its potential effectiveness because that's all he knows how to do." What if the kid who only did the bounce pass won the game, but so did the student who used the most "advantageous strategy"? Does that mean that the bounce-driven student was just as good as the one who used multiple passes? No, it just means that some dumb-luck may have been involved.What's the best way to determine whether a student has mastered a skill? Well although the book didn't call it by this name, they suggested a set-up similar to backward design, which is something I plan on using in my future classrooms. Why do I want to use it? Backward design allows you to pick a goal first, and puts secondly how to tell if a student has mastered the goal and curriculum. By working backwards with the ultimate goal closer in mind, I think it will be easier to decide how to define "mastered" for that particular lesson.
Alison Hutchins
The second chapter of Fair Isn't Always Equal focuses largely on determining student mastery of specific content. This wasn't something I had yet given a ton of thought, especially in reference to differentiated instruction. It was a bit surprising how difficult this can be, and how often a teacher needs to check student progress to assure that they are well on the path of fully understanding whatever standard it is you have them working toward. The process involves checking for these skills frequently in ways that require them to answer, or self access, using not empty knowledge, but full and deep understanding of the content with which you have provided them. The chapter suggests that it is important to break up the standard in a way that makes each part easy to access a student on, this kind of breaking apart also eases differentiated teaching and assessment, as it helps more clearly state what goals the learner needs to ultimately meet.
Mastery is definitely hugely important to any classroom, as the ultimate goal of any lesson is to guide students to gain that given skill. In reference to differentiated learning, this could mean creating very different lesson plans and accessing mastery in a altered way, while still being sure that the student is being held to the same caliber. This would always be important in my classroom, because I believe that every student has the right and ability to master the same content as any other, regardless of how they learn.